Liverpoolman

Get the BMW, Mercedes seems to give a unwanted attention. 

I purchased 2 condos here a few years back, with my company name. And I had a mortgage through KTB bank. Everything was fine, until I had a dispute of VAT claim that was not paid back to my company from the revenue department. As I was a foreigner the revenue department tried everything they could to look through my business dealings to find something to put their finger on, They found nothing exempt 2 condos my company owned. They said if a company buys this kind of property it is for incomes purpose. I was living in one and the other one I tried to sell as this was my original one that had become too small. I was not renting out. However by the law they could assume I was renting one out, and that I should pay rent to my company from the one I lived in. In the end they found prices of similar condos for rent on the internet and said I should have had income to my company for bought condos. Again with law in hand they said I should have had 100k income a month from bought condos to my company, they assumed 100% occupancy. They then calculated 25% tax from this income, going back 3 years. It was this period my company owned the condo's.

My VAT claim was 200K that they hesitated to pay out, I ended up paying them 900K in extra tax.

Needless to say, I sold the condos as quick as I could at a discounted price, so my company would not have that burden.

Do not buy any property you live in with your company, period !!!! Then the Thai's have you by the nuts if they feel like it.

1 hour ago, blackcab said:

I have to say that in Bangkok, if you request a VAT refund then it's almost certain you will be visited. The level of investigation will depend on the amount being reclaimed. It doesn't matter if your company and directors are all Thai citizens - a refund triggers an investigation.

That is mental, with all the export businesses there. Probably 1 million + in reclaimed VAT for a small/medium size exporter a month, I doubt anyone would let that go away easily. I would not 

7 minutes ago, ukrules said:

How about reporting them to the superiors in Bangkok

Yes, as the commenter above mentioned, maybe I contact the ombudsman, first to get to know the laws etc. and if the revenue department is breaking any by holding off the payments. I have heard that they can hold the payments for 60 days without giving notice (I have not gotten any since November) just to get it confirmed.

5 hours ago, timewilltell said:

This scam has been going on for years in various areas as they try to hit their targets. It is the foreigners they go after first and reason, law or logic are no assistance. It is out and out racism as is prevelant through the structure of Thailand. It is easier not to do business here to be honest. I have no intention of doing so again.

Yes, it's my last business here as well. Just not possible to do things easy anymore. Not worth it.

6 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

Ouch!

 

Is this about brown envelopes and corruption, Revenue office targets or a dislike of farangs I wonder, it would be interesting to know.

 

A few possibilities: if the message that came back was genuine, and you perhaps ought to try and confirm that via an independent source, no amount of running a business properly will prevent an investigation from finding something wrong and that something might cost you a lot of money, even seeking help from a higher level might not avoid that investigation by the local office.

 

I can't help with constructive advice but as a past small business owner I can offer my support and understanding, hopefully, somebody better connected and more knowledgeable will come along with some useful advice.

 

 

I have never given money to any officials before, and probably would not start now unless they force my hand. I am pretty sure I have my papers in order and I don't fear they find anything. Someone told me today that the revenue department is running out of money, witch sounds odd.

Thanks for you comment though.

I have been running a export business in Hua Hin for 17 years, and always had some issues with the revenue department in Prachuapkirikhan who issue the VAT claims in this province. Years before they could hold off the payments for a few months and come and check my papers etc. But I always got the money that I claim. Because I export 99% of my manufactured products I claim all 7% VAT of the raw material etc. that I purchase. There was a new director starting at the revenue department in November, thats when the payments stopped being issued. Some other foreign owners of other manufacturing/export businesses that I have spoken to have the same problem, but Thai owners that I have spoken to seem's to have no problem's at all.

I got my lawyer/accountant to speak with the new director and others at the revenue department to try to find out what is going on, and she got the message from them that if I claim my VAT back, they will start a investigation on my company.

In my 22 years in Thailand I always felt the discrimination the Thai gives you when you are doing business here, But right now it is worse than ever. I kind of feel I want to give up doing business here and just sell off the land, machines etc. and call it a day, but I have 40 staff that I am very found off, and they have all been loyal to me and most of them have worked with me for more than 15 years. I would hate to see them in the unemployment line as they have families to support.

Anybody know what the heck is going on at the revenue department these days? someone with more inside info ?

4 hours ago, JOC said:

Well soon we will have another real estate agent in Hua Hin.....

Would be called Cold Properties, then the drug lords from England will cover bought the hot and cold properties here :)

Wow, that indicates a value of 23 bath per yaba pill. No wonder our kids are in danger.

Maybe they are shopping shoes for their look the dolls

I just opened a account with Citibank in Singapore....Extremely good service. They gave me a trading account as well, I can buy shares in the US,HK and Singapore. Got a ATM card with no limits (limits itself when the account is empty). Can have my moneys in several different currencies, I use US$ at the moment.

You can start applying from their website, and make a appointment.

I sent over 200 000 US$ from Thailand to Citibank in Singapore with out any hassle at all.

Burmese judicial system and police force is as corrupt as the Thai one. Burmese press and readers will be surprised by nothing here.

The only difference is the bottom of the heap in Thailand is Burmese, the bottom of the heap in Burma is Mon, Karen, Rohingya and other non-Burmese and non-Chinese ethnic minorities. Senior Burmese officials, military, police and politicians will identify and empathise much more closely with their Thai equivalents than with their compatriot peasants.

Senior Burmese officials are Chinese. And so are the drug lords in Burma

Did the Police take any DNA samples of the Village headman's son?

Or did they not, because of he "proved" he was in BKK at the time?

Hi All.

I have been owning and running a manufacturing business in Prachuapkirikhan province for 12 years now.

From day one I wanted to do the business by the book and pay all the taxes that I had coming and not do anything dodgy. Thinking it was good to contribute to the welfare of the country I live in.

The last few years however, the revenue department refuses to give me back the VAT that I should have had (My business is Export only). They use all kinds of excuses for not paying me back, and they are being unbelievable unfair. I have several months from last year they did pay me back, in amounts to more than a million bath. The latest excuse for not paying me was that they suspect me for selling goods with no invoices locally in Thailand, witch is totally untrue. Because of all the sleepless nights I have thanks to these arrogant officials and annoyingly disrupt my cash flow. I feel I am no longer keen on paying taxes at all. Are there anyone out there who have any idea how to hide income when you run a export business?